Tama-Toledo receives $542,000 in federal housing grants

April 30, 2014

The Tama-Toledo area is receiving $542,000 in federal grants to help improve homes in the area.

The grants are part of the Community Development Block Grants awarded by the Iowa Economic Development Authority Tuesday.

Of the $542,000, half is going to Tama and half to Toledo.

Toledo Mayor Dave Svoboda said this money will go to improvements at eight homes in the town with exterior upgrades such as new roofs, siding and windows.

"I think anytime you can improve on the appearance of the town it helps the economy," Svoboda said.

The grant for Tama will also go to upgrades at eight homes in the town.

The funds were secured locally by the Region 6 Planning Commission based in Marshalltown. Staff at Region 6 declined to comment Tuesday on details of the grants saying they only had received conditional approval of the funds.

This round of CDBG funds supported 72 communities in Iowa with $23.8 million in funds, according to the IEDA.

"Helping Iowa communities become development-ready is an important part of our work at IEDA," said Debi Durham, director of the IEDA. "The federally funded CDBG program makes a difference for communities all around our state."